Isthmus Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 465 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NOC. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 735,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,448,000 after purchasing an additional 372,500 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $171,580,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $94,370,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,171,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.88.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $495.98 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $470.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $494.93. Northrop Grumman Co. has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,126,405 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.